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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26121898">The Death of an Illusion</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/soaring_heart/pseuds/soaring_heart'>soaring_heart</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Close Your Eyes [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Ghost Izuna, Izuna is dead, Senju Tobirama Needs a Hug, Uchiha izuna Needs a Hug, Warring states period, but he is like a ghost now, everyone deserves a happy ending, so it doesn't really count i guess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:15:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,501</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26121898</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/soaring_heart/pseuds/soaring_heart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Tobirama killed Izuna, he thought that would be the last he would see of his rival.<br/>He was unfortunately very mistaken.</p><p>or in which Somehow Izuna is a ghost and he spends his afterlife haunting our favorite Senju.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Senju Tobirama &amp; Uchiha Izuna</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Close Your Eyes [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1896688</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>100</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Death of an Illusion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>"Nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion."  - Arthur Koestler.<br/></strong>
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</p><p>The first time Tobirama saw <strong><em>him</em></strong>, it was on the battlefield, standing close to Madara. And considering how all Uchiha look the same, Tobirama thought it must have been a trick of the light or something as such. He gave it no further thought and continued fighting as usual.</p><p>And  well if he paid extra attention to his sensing for the rest of the battle, it’s not like anybody could tell.</p><p> </p><p>
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</p><p>The second time it happened he was crossing the Naka river just returning from a long tiresome mission. He saw him from the corner of his eye, disappearing back into the trees on the Uchiha side of the river. </p><p>He stared after him for a second before he shook his head and continued on to the compound, it seems he is a bit more tired than he thought.</p><p> That time he blamed it on stress <strike>guilt</strike>.</p><p> <em>(he had nothing to be guilty of)</em></p><p>
  
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</p><p>The third time he saw the Uchiha, there could be no denying the fact that something was wrong. Because this was no trick of light, this was Izuna looking as healthy as he ever looked, his face twisted in rage as he tried to stand between Tobirama and one of his clanmates.</p><p>Tobirama couldn’t help but falter a bit, and that was all his opponent needed to twist away from his incoming strike. Izuna however stayed rooted to his spot and the blade passed harmlessly through him, before he vanished into thin air.</p><p>Tobirama didn’t allow his inner turmoil to show on his face, but it was a close call.</p><p>And although a retreat was called shortly after. He returned that day with a few more scraps than usual.</p><p> </p><p>
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</p><p>He spent the next few days reading everything he could get his hands on regarding genjutsu which only confirmed that he most likely wasn’t under one.</p><p>Somehow that wasn’t as reassuring as it should have been.</p><p>Determining that it probably wasn’t going to put him or the clan in any unnecessary danger he resolved to ignore <em>it</em> for the time being meaing <em>‘till the day he died’.</em></p><p>Unfortunately<em> it</em>, or more specifically the Uchiha, had a different opinion.</p><p>When he entered his office to find the Uchiha watching him closely from the corner by the window, he resolutely ignored him and continued with his work as usual.  He tried to subtly keep his papers from the Uchiha’s line of sight. And then tried to convince himself that he was doing no such thing.</p><p>The Uchiha watched him from his corner silently for the rest of the day.</p><p>Somehow he didn’t get much done that day.</p><p> </p><p>
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</p><p>The next time it happened he was more or less prepared for it, and by prepared for it he meant he didn’t sleep a wink in the last couple of days trying in vain to find a solution to his problem - Or more accurately trying to find a name to his problem in the first place.</p><p>The Uchiha was waiting for him in the office in what Tobirama was really hoping wouldn’t become a habit.  However this time he was sitting comfortably in his chair as if it belonged to him.</p><p>Tobirama grabbed his papers and decided that the weather was too good today to waste it locked up inside doing paperwork, when he could as easily do it outside.</p><p>Trying in vain to convince himself that he wasn’t running away.</p><p> </p><p>
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</p><p>Unfortunately for Tobirama it became a habit since that day for him to find the Uchiha dodging his every footstep. Sometimes the specter would vanish for a day or two and Tobirama would relax a bit thinking the whole predicament over, before he would make a reappearance and the cycle would repeat.</p><p>The only saving grace of the whole matter was that winter was here early a bit this year. Which meant that the fighting had to pause as each clan took care of their own. So now at least he had time to solve his problem before he had to fight in any battles. Tobirama never forgot how much the distraction almost cost him last time.</p><p>As the days passed Tobirama never acknowledged the apparition. The most disconcerting thing was how the Uchiha didn’t do anything, seemingly just content to follow him around silently. Whether this was a work of a particularly inventive jutsu or even his own mind playing tricks on him, it made no sense for the Uchiha to just follow around quietly.</p><p>When days of research proved fruitless he resolved to continue with his life as if nothing was amiss.  However Hashirama kept sending him concerned looks whenever he thought he wasn’t looking.</p><p> It seemed he wasn’t as good at pretending as he thought he was.</p><p> </p><p>
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</p><p>Three weeks under the Uchiha’ constant vigilance was enough to drive anyone insane thankfully Tobirama wasn’t just anyone.</p><p>“I know you can see me, so you can drop your act.” The Uchiha said suddenly breaking the silence.</p><p>Or maybe he wasn’t as sane as he thought, just a little bit.</p><p>That has never happened before, in the three weeks the Uchiha spent watching his every move he never spoke once. It probably wasn’t a good sign that his hallucination was trying to engage him in conversation. It took every ounce of self-discipline for Tobirama not to react.</p><p> “Come on look at me.” He demanded sullenly.</p><p>Tobirama ignored him still.</p><p>“Now that’s just rude. I am a guest in your home Tobi, is that how you treat guest? And to think I came all this way just to talk to you.” He asked sounding like his usual bratty self, Tobirama could almost feel his eye twitching.</p><p>Still he ignored him.</p><p>The Uchiha sighed very dramatically, and Tobirama was sure that if he cared to look he would see him  rolling his eyes equally as dramatically. “Fine have it your way, but know that you can’t ignore me forever.”</p><p>Tobirama wasn’t going to dignify a figment of his imagination with a response so he said nothing.</p><p>He had a bad feeling about this.</p><p> </p><p>
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</p><p>The next few day were hell on earth, the Uchiha followed him closely as had become his habit. However now he was accompanied by his incessant chattering. Ranging from commenting about his clanmates choice of attire, to the weather, and worse of all sometimes there was humming or kami forbid the singing.</p><p>It seemed that his hallucination shared his talent or lack thereof of singing.</p><p>Hashirama was so worried about his behavior that he ambushed him in his office to run diagnostic jutsu on him. And instead of feeling reassured when the jutsu came back negative, he carried him off - like an unruly child - to his house to get some rest, and forbade him from working in his lab. like Tobirama would ever do such a thing with the Uchiha watching.</p><p>Tobirama didn’t even try to escape his brother's hold that much, his brother was built like a tree -literally - and he knew from experience that his brother wouldn’t let go. He was accompanied the whole way by the sound of his rival’s laughter.</p><p>He had never heard the Uchiha laugh before.</p><p> </p><p>
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</p><p>Somehow, someway or the other; as time passed he had gotten used to the Uchiha’s company. His constant chatter was somewhat amusing. Sometimes it was the only thing that kept him going through the boring useless meetings with the elders.</p><p>Tobirama tried very hard not to think of the implication that he was getting used to his hallucination’s presence that even Hashirama noticed his improved mood.</p><p>The Uchiha wasn’t always talkative; sometime he followed silently or even busied himself with reading the cover of his books or just stared out the windows.</p><p>During those rare occasions Tobirama tried to enjoy the silence and decidedly didn't think about how lonely the Uchiha looked at those times.</p><p> </p><p>
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</p><p> “You probably think I am a figment of your imagination or something.” The Uchiha mumbled to himself. And Tobirama almost laughed out loud when it occurred to him that his hallucination was talking to himself, that’s just an extra layer of crazy he never heard about before.</p><p>“But well you are too old for imaginary friends and a bit too young to be going senile don’t you think?” The Uchiha paused as if waiting for an answer, Then sighed ruefully, “Kami, maybe I am the one imagining the whole thing, a few twitches here and there aren’t exactly surefire proof. I have been probably talking to myself this whole time, haven’t I?” his tone was self deprecating in a way that it almost made his heart twinge in sympathy.</p><p>Tobirama kept his eyes on the report he was reading and didn’t react at all.  From the sound of it, it seems like his <em>hallucination</em> is about to give up on the whole affair.</p><p>He just needed to hold out a little bit longer.</p><p> </p><p>
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</p><p>It seemed he was sorely mistaken about the wole giving up thing. Since the specter continued to annoy the hell out of him for the next few days.</p><p>Then Uchiha had a <em>brilliant</em> idea.</p><p>“If I tell you something only the both of us know that will prove to you that I am real.” Tobirama almost snorted at the ridiculousness of this statement but prevented himself at the last moment.</p><p>And true to what he suggested the Uchiha spent the next few days regaling him with tales of their <em>encounters</em> together, until he finally seemed  to realize the fallacy of his logic evidenced by him pausing dramatically in his –very exaggerated - retelling and slapping his forehead in a totally unnecessary manner.</p><p>“Wait if you think I am a figment of your mind or whatever, than me telling you stuff you already know is not helping at all, is it?” Somehow the Uchiha managed to pout and not look ridiculous while doing so. "Oh Kami, I can't believe i was so stupid."</p><p>A few minutes of silence then, “I got it.” he shouted brilliantly, “If I tell you things about me that you don’t already know then that would prove to you that I am the…. real deal.” His voice which was so bright at the beginning trailed off at the end.</p><p>“Don’t say anything” He grumbled while hiding his head in his hands. “I realized how stupid it was the moment it came out of my mouth.”</p><p>Tobirama almost believed that he was the real Uchiha if only because he was sure that his mind would never suggest such bad ideas. Hallucination or not.</p><p>“This is hopeless isn’t it?”   he finally admitted,  and although it was a question he obviously wasn't waiting for any real answers and he got none.</p><p>The Uchiha remained silent for the rest of the day.</p><p> </p><p>
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</p><p>The Uchiha didn’t make an appearance for a few days which was nothing new. This past few months, he vanished for days at a time before reappearing again. So Tobirama wasn’t really worried about his disappearance.</p><p>Not that he had anything to worry about, except maybe the fact that his own consciousness got bored from his own company.</p><p>With him gone Tobirama could finally start focusing on other things, mainly the Uchiha clan as a whole, not just the one individual. With winter almost coming to a close it was inevitable that the hostilities will resume again. And Tobirama unlike his brother held no delusions about how time might have softened Madara’s heart to the idea of peace. If he wasn’t going to agree to start peace talks while his brother was alive, he surely wasn’t going to while his brother's murdered walked free.</p><p>When a whole fortnight passed without Izuna showing hide nor hair, Tobirama breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe that meant that he finally got rid of the Uchiha forever. It probably meant that Tobirama has finally made peace with his actions so long ago. '<em>Although he never regretted them in the first place</em>.'</p><p>Oddly enough Tobirama didn’t think inner peace would leave such a bitter taste in his mouth</p><p> </p><p>
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</p><p>He would deny it to his last breath but when he Looked up from his latest experiment to see Izuna staring at him intently, he sighed in relief.</p><p>And only realized his folly after the fact, he tried to play it off as him just sighing tiredly and he stretched his arms above his head for good measure. And  went back to his work and waited.</p><p>And waited...</p><p>Izuna didn’t say a word and Tobirama didn’t realize how much he got used to his voice droning on in the background until they suddenly went back to how they were in the very beginning of this weird relationship or whatever.</p><p>A few hours later Izuna finally decided tobreak the silence.</p><p>“Senju, I need to know, can you really see me or not?” he asked desperately.</p><p> A part of Tobirama –the analytical part, the part that looked at space/time and thought it would be a good idea to break it- knew that Izuna wasn’t something his mind conjured - have known that for a while. But the rest of Tobirama didn’t want to face reality, didn’t want to face the consequences of admitting that he was most likely seeing the ghost of his dead rival.</p><p>A man he killed himself.</p><p>So he remained silent.</p><p>The silence stretched between them.</p><p>“Tobirama.” He said solemnly/desperately and didn’t say anything else</p><p>It was the first time his rival ever called him by name through all these years of them knowing each other. Even these past few months he never uttered his name always preferring to call him one of his honestly ridiculous nicknames ranging from snow princess to white demon. Tobirama hated those nicknames on principle alone, if he wasn’t going to call him by name he should have had the decency to get a bit more creative with his nicknames at least.</p><p>From the corner of his eyes he could see Izuna (and since when has he thought of his rival by his first name) hold his head in his hands.</p><p>The silence was somehow even more suffocating than before.</p><p>...</p><p>...</p><p>...</p><p>No one ever called Tobirama a coward. He was always one to jump head firt and worry about consequences later -at least when it came to his own well being.</p><p>He took a deep breath and got ready to face whatever may come.</p><p>“What do you need, Izuna? If you can’t tell I am a bit busy right now. Some of us actually have work to do.” His tone was a bit more caustic than he intended and he probably shouldn’t have brought up the whole <em>you can’t do anything because you’re dead</em> thing.</p><p>But from the watery smile gracing Izuna lips, he didn’t think he minded that much.</p><p>This looked like the beginning of a very peculiar friendship.</p><p>He had a bad feeling about this.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So this idea has been stuck in my head for months and i finally decided to do something about it.<br/>This is just the first part of a series, the idea is to do one main chaptered fic and other smaller one-shots to set the mood. <br/>As you can probably tell English is not my first language so sorry for any mistakes. i would be interested in a beta writer if any of you feel up to it.<br/>Thanks for reading, If you like it pleases leave a kudo or a comment i would really love to hear your thoughts.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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